Washington asking that Lieutenants Grant and Cook, taken prisoners at Fort Washington, be restored to rank and pay as if not captured. January 10, 1781, "Camp in the Highlands," he writes asking that a garrison of Virginia or Massachusetts or Maryland or New Hampshire troops be sent to Wyoming, and not Pennsylvania troops, of whom New England settlers were jealous. January 12, 1781, "Camp Highlands," he writes to Washington: "Dear General: The instances of firmness in the Connecticut line exhibited among the privates since I had the honor of seeing you fully convinces me of the justice of my observations yesterday on that subject; and I believe the same spirit pervades the whole of the line. In two instances application was made this morning for furloughs. The men, privates, who had been three years absent were informed that in the defection of the Pennsylvania line they would be required to reduce them to their duty; they answered without hesitation they had rather never see home than the cause of their country should suffer by such unjustifiable conduct, or your excellency should be in danger from that or any misconduct. They went back with great cheerfulness and said they would never apply again until they were brought to their duty. And in many instances the officers' servants have begged to be armed and permitted to go on this duty. From these circumstances and other observations I am convinced the fullest confidence may in this instance be placed in the Connecticut troops."

The above letter was written only a short time before Heron wrote to Sir Henry Clinton insinuations against Parsons and Stark. January 23, 1781, "Horseneck," Parsons writes to Washington of his success in the expedition to "Sawpitts," Horseneck; and January 26 of the difficulties. of the expedition on account of snow and cold. March 31, '81, he writes to Governor Trumbull (a letter found among the Trumbull papers) stating the extensiveness of those concerned in supplying the enemy and in illicit commerce. He extends his examination to commerce by water as well as by land; and is astonished at the list of inhabitants of Greenwich, Stamford and Norwalk exposed by the examination. He gives a list of them; and asks how far he is to proceed in apprehending the persons named in the examination. March 3, 1781, Parsons in another letter to Governor Trumbull avows knowledge of constant intercommunication between the disaffected scattered from New York to Canada. He says he knows who conveys the intelligence. He states the objections to intermeddling to be a doubt how far force may be employed for the purpose of discovery, and says he is under the most solemn engagements not to disclose the names of spies. He alludes to some slanders against him because he had made

some similar disclosures the previous summer. April 20, 1781, he writes to Washington giving an account of his ill health and advising him that the operations of the disaffected have been brought to a stand, and urging the fitting out an expedition to Lloyd's Neck to cut off the enemy, and asks to command it. April 30, 1781, he writes of his "still very feeble health;" thinks a considerable check is put to the proceedings of the disaffected; says a report is confidentially circulated among them that the British government "have given assurances to Colonel Allen that the state of Vermont shall be made a separate province if the war terminates in their favor, and that he shall be appointed governor of the new province;" and concludes by a recommendation of the spy already quoted. May 2, 1781, writes to Washington that he has learned from New York that General Arnold was every hour expected there to take command of the expedition (into Connecticut). "Admiral Arbuthnot is going to England, his officers refusing to serve with him." Admiral Graves, who commands the fleet, was in New York Saturday, but expects to sail in a few days. Five ships of the line are in the East River, the rest in North River. The fleet with provisions had arrived without loss, and the enemy are in high spirits. "Great dependence is placed on the defection of Vermont; they say their measures are fully secured there, and that an army may be expected from Canada soon." (No doubt Heron furnished him this information.) June 26, 1781, "Peekskill." Parsons writes to Washington of the disaffection of Connecticut troops on account of the failure of the state and the nation to pay them. He writes "by request." July 10, 1781, “Camp, Peekskill," he writes stating the terms on which the officers expect to be paid. July 10, 1781, "Camp near Dobb's Ferry," he writes urging again the paying of the Connecticut troops, and says: "Every other state has done much toward satisfying the just demands of the troops, and Connecticut, the best able of any state in the Union, has done nothing." July 28, 1781, he writes that the inhabitants in the rear of the army are connected with the refugees who are on the road, and who are acting the part of robbers, and suggests a remedy.

Autograph letters of General Parsons written at this period have recently been sold in Boston by Libbie & Co., exhibiting the same spirit as these I have presented. They are not addressed, but the dates of all are preserved. January 1, 1781, he writes from Camp Highland, congratulating a friend on his release and marriage, and giving him notice that he would be called soon into service. April 9, 1778, he writes to his correspondent, "please to present my compliments to your fellow-prisoners and that obstinate tory, Parson Walter, my old friend." May 3, 1781, he

wrote ordering the seizure of one Willard by a file of soldiers and denounced him as a villain. May 8, 1781, he wrote ordering the execution of one Rowland, and directing the prisoners to attend the execution. These letters written in 1781, of which this is the last, cover the entire period of the Heron correspondence. The next letter on the files was written May 17, 1782, and announces his retirement from the army on account of "extreme ill health.”

To my mind these letters are conclusive with regard to the loyalty of General Parsons. They indicate a spirit of devotion to his country and they record acts in her service. They were evidently written by one who had the entire confidence of Washington-who was not deceived in his estimate of men, and whose suspicions of Parsons, had he been in long communication with the enemy, would have been roused as they were by the irregularities of Arnold. The spirit which produced these letters was accepted as the true spirit of Parsons throughout the war, and secured for him the confidence of his associate officers, Putnam and Frazer, and Scammell and Sherman, and Wolcott and Hull and Heath, and of the community in which he lived when the war had ended, and a place in the councils of Manasseh Cutler and Rufus Putnam when they entered upon their great work of settling the Northwest Territory.

On

In the diary of Cutler we find General Parsons alluded to often. March 8, 1787, at a meeting of the Ohio Company, held in Boston, General Samuel H. Parsons, General Rufus Putnam and the Rev. Manasseh Cutler were chosen directors to apply to Congress for the purchasing of lands. On March 16, 1787, Cutler writes to Nathan Dane: "General Parsons. will make application to Congress in the name of the other directors in order to make the purchase for the company." On his journey to New York and Philadelphia he spent an evening with General Parsons, settled all matters relating to his business with Congress, and received many letters from the General to the members. On July 5, 1887, he was ready to support Parsons for governor, but found that General St. Clair had forestalled him, and consequently urged successfully his appointment as United States judge of the territory. On July 29, 1787, he records with evident satisfaction, "when I informed General Parsons of my negotiations with Congress, I had the pleasure to find not only that it met his approbation, but he expressed his astonishment that I had obtained terms so advantageous." On his way from New York to Boston, after the negotiation, he “dined with General Parsons." Sept. 18, 1787, he writes that Generals Parsons and Putnam are to go with one hundred men to Ohio." On May 6, 1789, directors Parsons, Putnam and Griffin Green ordered Putnam and Cutler

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to apply to Congress for additional purchases. In all the important business of the company, Parsons was constantly employed as a wise counselor and an honest agent and director.

It has been said of Parsons that "all who knew him had supposed that he was a poor man, and to the surprise of every one he had a large amount of ready money to invest in the lands of the company. This was the fifty thousand dollars that Clinton had given him for his services." In answer to this charge I am informed by Douglas Putnam, Esq., a most respectable and venerable citizen of Marietta: "I find in the list of the original proprietors in the Ohio Company's purchase the name of Parsons, Samuel H., as the proprietor of two shares, and Parsons, Samuel H., Parsons, W. W., and others, proprietors of three shares. In the division of the lands a share consisted of 1,173 acres (in plots), of which the cost was understood to be $1,000 in Continental money and $10 specie." This disposes of the fifty thousand dollars charge.

In conclusion, I place over against Heron's reputation and record and occupation, the services and correspondence and civil and military associations of General Parsons, and rest on them his vindication and his title in our generation to the esteem and confidence he enjoyed in his own.

SALEM. MASSACHUSETTS.

ExB Loring

AN UNPUBLISHED LETTER OF JOHN ADAMS

WRITTEN TO CHARLES HOLT, EDITOR OF THE NEW LONDON BEE

Charles Holt was born in New London, August 10th, 1772. In early manhood he was an earnest politician of democratic principles. The Democrats of that day were styled Republicans and the Whigs were the Federalists. In 1797 Holt established a newspaper called the Bee, which was published in New London, Connecticut, for three years, when he removed with it to Hudson, New York. This paper was a prominent organ of the Democratic party, and as such vigorously and sharply attacked the Federal party and its most prominent exponent, John Adams, President of the United States, during whose administration Congress passed, July 10, 1798, the obnoxious and unconstitutional "Alien and Sedition Act." This measure was most ably discussed in both houses of Congress, but was finally passed by a small majority. The northern members chiefly voted for it, the heaviest vote against it being from the south-notably that of the state of Virginia. Its enforcement created great excitement and discontent, and it was undoubtedly the cause of the final overthrow of the Adams administration.

The case that excited most attention was that of Hon. Matthew Lyon, member of Congress from Vermont, who was tried for writing and publishing letters that were adjudged to be seditious, found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000, with imprisonment four months. He was taken fifty miles from his home and confined in a loathsome prison, without fire during the cold months of October and November. Upon his release he must have removed from Vermont, as in 1811 he appears in Congress as a representative from the state of Kentucky, and petitions for relief, asking the repayment of the fine imposed upon him, with interest to date. It was referred to a select committee, and the resolution referring it was amended by instructing the committee to inquire, "Whether any and what prosecutions have been instituted, &c., under the sedition law, or the common law, and by what authority, and to make such provision as they may deem necessary for securing the freedom of speech, and of the press." Here the whole matter seems to have been buried, but in June, 1844, Congress passed a law reimbursing all fines with interest to those who had suffered under the Act.